Re:Can AJAX finally bring us "push technology"
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Ajax in Action
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· Score: 1
Hello Chris...I was reading the slashdot article that you have linked to your site. Are you familiar with the JSR-168 specification (portal/portlet) and if you are, could you give me your opinion on AJAX's role in a portal environment. What I'm thinking/wondering, if this is an updating technology that could work well within a portal paradigm.
(I'm a former programmer/architect that has moved to the CTO ranks and I haven't programmed in ~3+ years...still trying to stay up on latest developments)
I may not help orchestrate the IT department of a billion dollar company, but I do for a 350 million dollar and growing company, and we are moving to Linux across the board, desktop, POS, and all servers, as we are looking for stability, minimum footprint, lower licensing costs for all software (i.e., OpenOffice, Firefox, help desk software etc) all while avoiding the constant bombardment of virus attacks against our architecture. Windows has not done this for us in a manner that is acceptable moving forward...and please don't respond about maintenance and patch management, because we've had to worry about far less patches and updates since the move.
If anyone out there knows anything about "Linux" being used on this device, please enlighten the rest of us...otherwise it seems like the term is being thrown in to cause interest from those of us who wouldn't even look at a PDA from Palm.
I've read a number of the replies on your question, and hope to give you some constructive feedback, as the slashdot community has a tendency to look for the negatives in everything...
I've worked as a programmer, project lead, project manager and have eventually found my way to enterprise architect. I've seen a plethora of software development projects, in all stages from beginning to end. What stands out most in documentation is the need for various levels of detail.
A good design document will provide at least three levels of detail for every section. The first and highest level is a summary of business requirements that are being met with descriptions of associative functionality, almost in a "the business dept needed THIS and THESE functions are designed to meet that need". This highest level is for the project members who are neither technical, nor intimately involved in the project other then as business leaders for requesting department(s). The second level of documentation should be designed with QA in mind, detailing data sources, structure and flow. Diagrams are a natural fit in this section. The third section of documentation should deal more with the architectural design of the code itself. This includes the explanation of complicated algorithms used to solve problems which are also explained. This level of documentation is difficult to come by, but it the section most usable by the programmers themselves (well commented javadocs is an example).
The challenge with this is that to get this kind of detail, you will require a number of authors, and that is rarely a priority or even a possibility of team put together to develop software against both a budget and a timeline.
There is also the statistical anamoly that was found by a group in Berkeley http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111904W.shtml that I think combined with a politician "asking" for a prototype of a vote fraud program are by themselves scenarios that make me uncomfortable...absolute power corrupts abosuletly, right?
I certainly agree with your assessment, but with respect to the need of standard office applications and homegrown custom apps, I find that OpenOffice suits just about every need that MS Office will, and any useful app that gains momentum in the Windows arena is usually followed by a similar open source option not long there after (e.g., gimp, gaim, thunderbird, firefox etc). Let Windows do the trial and beta of new ideas, and then open source can take the best ideas and improve on them, while weeding out the unnecessary fluff (not that Linux is free of bulk either).
I currently work closely with the CIO in a medium to large restaurant company where we are installing a POS system with Linux as the OS...Suse to be exact although we'll probably be using IRES from IBM which is just a imaging and deployment package around Suse. While we are working out the kinks of the POS, our online ordering system running IIS and Windows 2000 was comprimised and has left us waiting for a green light with our payment processor that has resulted in approximately 1 million in losses. I don't care how much of a budget Windows has if being a "known quantity" makes you a target.
The feat of the no-hitter is indeed special, but you do truly have to be a sports fanatic to really be moved by the act. Ironically, the act of hitting a baseball is statistically one of the most difficult feats to perform (a 90 mph fastball crosses the plate approximately 0.4 seconds after it leaves the pitcher's hand (for those who need perspective, try this test Reaction Time) as the hitter must determine location (strike or ball), spin on the ball (curve, slider, fastball, splitter) and then swing a round bat to hit the round ball providing for a small margin of error for effective contact...not to mention that there are 9 guys on the field trying to catch the ball too...surprising that there aren't more perfect games. Thus, it is no surprise that those people that are considered "Hall of Famers" that have.300 batting averages failed roughly 7 out of 10 times. Or was that software projects?
I certainly agree that if you are investing an unusual amount of your personal time, especially if you are not in the position to give that kind of time without some type of compensation in return. But in the instance of the self-sufficient(i.e., the filthy rich or financially secure) I'm sure there are those who are creative for creativity's sake. The need for self expression that is independent of money or financial definition.
Consider this, copyrights and patents ultimately rob the public at large of the full potential of ideas or works. If someone is the originator of an idea, a collaborative effort is undoubtedly required to exhaust all possibilities of what that idea can become. If all ideas are copyrighted or patented, which suggest that we only create when assured of compensation, then ultimately we all lose something as the creative process can be halted prematurely. To say that those ideas would have never happened without the existence of copyrights or patents ("why would I ever create anything of value?") seems very shortsited to me. Besides, who but the public at large determines "value" anyway? Just because you have an "idea" doesn't mean anyone wants it.
Be well.
Slashdot Mirror
Hello Chris...I was reading the slashdot article that you have linked to your site. Are you familiar with the JSR-168 specification (portal/portlet) and if you are, could you give me your opinion on AJAX's role in a portal environment. What I'm thinking/wondering, if this is an updating technology that could work well within a portal paradigm.
(I'm a former programmer/architect that has moved to the CTO ranks and I haven't programmed in ~3+ years...still trying to stay up on latest developments)
Certainly, we are using a relatively new product called Siva
I may not help orchestrate the IT department of a billion dollar company, but I do for a 350 million dollar and growing company, and we are moving to Linux across the board, desktop, POS, and all servers, as we are looking for stability, minimum footprint, lower licensing costs for all software (i.e., OpenOffice, Firefox, help desk software etc) all while avoiding the constant bombardment of virus attacks against our architecture. Windows has not done this for us in a manner that is acceptable moving forward...and please don't respond about maintenance and patch management, because we've had to worry about far less patches and updates since the move.
Agreed, and thanks for the reply.
Thanks for the reply, and it seems that you are right...but it could make sense for Palm to go the Linux route.
Clever, but true.
If anyone out there knows anything about "Linux" being used on this device, please enlighten the rest of us...otherwise it seems like the term is being thrown in to cause interest from those of us who wouldn't even look at a PDA from Palm.
I've worked as a programmer, project lead, project manager and have eventually found my way to enterprise architect. I've seen a plethora of software development projects, in all stages from beginning to end. What stands out most in documentation is the need for various levels of detail. A good design document will provide at least three levels of detail for every section. The first and highest level is a summary of business requirements that are being met with descriptions of associative functionality, almost in a "the business dept needed THIS and THESE functions are designed to meet that need". This highest level is for the project members who are neither technical, nor intimately involved in the project other then as business leaders for requesting department(s). The second level of documentation should be designed with QA in mind, detailing data sources, structure and flow. Diagrams are a natural fit in this section. The third section of documentation should deal more with the architectural design of the code itself. This includes the explanation of complicated algorithms used to solve problems which are also explained. This level of documentation is difficult to come by, but it the section most usable by the programmers themselves (well commented javadocs is an example).
The challenge with this is that to get this kind of detail, you will require a number of authors, and that is rarely a priority or even a possibility of team put together to develop software against both a budget and a timeline.
I wish you luck on your documentation efforts.
Have you heard anything about subscriptions? It seems to go against their business model thusfar, but I suppose it makes sense.
Has your organization dealt with this: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111904W.shtml I'm curious as to the results of any research regarding these anamolies. Thanks.
There is also the statistical anamoly that was found by a group in Berkeley http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111904W.shtml that I think combined with a politician "asking" for a prototype of a vote fraud program are by themselves scenarios that make me uncomfortable...absolute power corrupts abosuletly, right?
I certainly agree with your assessment, but with respect to the need of standard office applications and homegrown custom apps, I find that OpenOffice suits just about every need that MS Office will, and any useful app that gains momentum in the Windows arena is usually followed by a similar open source option not long there after (e.g., gimp, gaim, thunderbird, firefox etc). Let Windows do the trial and beta of new ideas, and then open source can take the best ideas and improve on them, while weeding out the unnecessary fluff (not that Linux is free of bulk either).
I currently work closely with the CIO in a medium to large restaurant company where we are installing a POS system with Linux as the OS...Suse to be exact although we'll probably be using IRES from IBM which is just a imaging and deployment package around Suse. While we are working out the kinks of the POS, our online ordering system running IIS and Windows 2000 was comprimised and has left us waiting for a green light with our payment processor that has resulted in approximately 1 million in losses. I don't care how much of a budget Windows has if being a "known quantity" makes you a target.
Many thanks, will check out.
What books do the ./ers recommend as a follow-up to someone who knows enough Linux to screw things up but is looking to improve?
The feat of the no-hitter is indeed special, but you do truly have to be a sports fanatic to really be moved by the act. Ironically, the act of hitting a baseball is statistically one of the most difficult feats to perform (a 90 mph fastball crosses the plate approximately 0.4 seconds after it leaves the pitcher's hand (for those who need perspective, try this test Reaction Time) as the hitter must determine location (strike or ball), spin on the ball (curve, slider, fastball, splitter) and then swing a round bat to hit the round ball providing for a small margin of error for effective contact...not to mention that there are 9 guys on the field trying to catch the ball too...surprising that there aren't more perfect games. Thus, it is no surprise that those people that are considered "Hall of Famers" that have .300 batting averages failed roughly 7 out of 10 times. Or was that software projects?
I certainly agree that if you are investing an unusual amount of your personal time, especially if you are not in the position to give that kind of time without some type of compensation in return. But in the instance of the self-sufficient(i.e., the filthy rich or financially secure) I'm sure there are those who are creative for creativity's sake. The need for self expression that is independent of money or financial definition.
Consider this, copyrights and patents ultimately rob the public at large of the full potential of ideas or works. If someone is the originator of an idea, a collaborative effort is undoubtedly required to exhaust all possibilities of what that idea can become. If all ideas are copyrighted or patented, which suggest that we only create when assured of compensation, then ultimately we all lose something as the creative process can be halted prematurely. To say that those ideas would have never happened without the existence of copyrights or patents ("why would I ever create anything of value?") seems very shortsited to me. Besides, who but the public at large determines "value" anyway? Just because you have an "idea" doesn't mean anyone wants it. Be well.